Michael Jordan To Headline Obama Fundraiser

The former Bulls star will be joined by Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Sheryl Swoopes and Alonzo Mourning at an Obama fundraising game.

Image by Joe Proudman / AP

Michael Jordan will join in fundraising efforts for Barack Obama at an “Obama Classic” celeb basketball game, the Obama campaign said in an email to supporters.

The NBA legend and team owner donated to Obama’s campaign in 2004 and taped a statement in support of NBA alum Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign, but has otherwise been cagey about his political leanings.

Indeed, his resistance to politics was, during his playing career, legendary and controversial: Refusing to endorse a black Democrat against arch-conservative North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms in 1990, he reportedly told a friend: “Republicans buy shoes too.”

The classic was originally scheduled for December of 2011, but was postponed because of the end of the NBA labor lockout.

According to the campaign email, the event will also include Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing and former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes.

A study of Obama’s campaign donations by the Center for Responsive Politics found that the President also received sizable donations from Earvin “Magic” Johnson, LeBron James and Shane Battier during the 2008 campaign.